How can we recognize when our children are struggling with stress and anxiety? How can we help guide them through our “pandemic moment” in healthy and constructive ways? In this episode, Matt interviews Stephanie Landon, a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor who helps answers these questions and more as we protect the other vulnerable members of our society – our children – by leading them well through crisis.
Leading Our Children in Crisis // June 1, 2020
Learn more about Restoration Church in Lake Zurich, and connect with us at http://restorationlz.org.
Waking up to a world you hardly recognize is disorienting, confusing, and tragic. As we continue to process through grief and loss in our global pandemic moment, there will continue to be competing voices of “reason” from our political leaders, religious leaders, social leaders, medical professionals, journalists, family members, and those on the fringes. So who’s voice will you trust and what next step will you choose to take to restore your life with meaning and purpose? In other words, how do we move forward and where should we put our confidence to do so in uncertain times?
This week we have an opportunity to learn from the past by hearing the words of Jeremiah to grieving exiles not unlike us. When there is no going back and “normal” has been significantly altered for the foreseeable future, where do we turn and who do we trust? In God’s economy, hope is never lost.
What is grief? How can we identify it in our own lives? And what can we do about it? This week Matt talks with Becky Feryance, a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in our community. She’ll help us understand grief and discuss some helpful tips and strategies on grieving well in a season of loss and disruption.
Understanding Grief // May 18, 2020
Learn more about Restoration Church in Lake Zurich, and connect with us at http://restorationlz.org.
Matt has an update on Restoration Church and announces new weekly podcast episodes beginning on Monday, May 18th! Tune in for the details and how Restoration Church has been adapting during the coronavirus pandemic.
Restoration Church Podcast Update // May 13, 2020
Learn more about Restoration Church in Lake Zurich, and connect with us at http://restorationlz.org.
Easter of 2020 will not be forgotten. It’s the year of significant disruption to our family, work, school, and the practice of our faith. What is typically known for large gatherings of Christians in celebration has been pushed into the quiet and lonely places of our home. It’s an Easter like no other, and the temptation might be to skip it, ignore it, or dismiss the prospects of a greater purpose in the disruption. However, when we lean into the moment, we discover the beauty of God and His mission in the world through the resurrection of His Son, Jesus Christ. The resurrection disrupts fear with hope-filled faith; a faith that sparks and sustains a worldwide movement over two-millennia (and counting).
Questions for Reflection and Discussion:
Are you lacking peace of joy right now in your life?
What fears do you need to invite the presence of Jesus to disrupt?
How is the Lord calling you to actively participate in God’s missional-movement by extending forgiveness, grace, or restoration to the sick, poor, widows, orphans, oppressed, or sinners?
Easter in Quarantine: Finding Purpose in Disruption // John 20:19-23 // April 8, 2020
Right now we are living in very disruptive days. As people around the globe work to mitigate, contain, and eradicate the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, our lives have been significantly disrupted. What purpose or meaning can we find in chaotic times? What does the Easter story in Scripture have to tell us about disruption and how God uses it? As it turns out, the ways of Jesus are the ways of disruptive action and is embedded within the very gospel message we believe. This is a two-part series from Restoration Church on “Finding Purpose in Disruption: Reflections for Easter in a Global Pandemic.”
Questions for Discussion:
What part of your everyday life has been most disrupted?
How might God be using this disruption to focus your eyes, ears, and heart on Jesus?
Why is the story of Easter good news for the world, now more than ever?
Finding Purpose in Disruption (Palm Sunday) // Luke 19:28-48 // April 2, 2020
In this week’s podcast, we’ll address one of the primary issues that prevents us from choosing goodness and righteousness in our lives: pain. Making changes in our life is hard work, and can often be painful. Instead of embracing the pain of change, we often seek to avoid and cover it up, allowing sin to continue to wreak havoc on our souls. Here’s the good news message you’ll learn this week and how to put it into practice: If sin destroys, then Jesus restores. If you are suffering with depression, sadness, anger, isolation, addiction, abuse, or other forms of brokenness in your life, you can’t afford to not find out how God is eager to partner with you in your healing and restoration.
Will you take the “Detox Your Soul Challenge?”
Prayerfully identify and repent of your “drug of choice”.
Choose to follow Jesus and begin a partnership with his Spirit.
Get help by sharing your decision with someone and asking for accountability.
Make a plan with reasonable goals that will help you “detox” and stay healthy.
Grow in the ways of Jesus by investing in a discipleship community.
Resource mentioned in today’s podcast: Spiritual Discipleship: Principles of Following Christ for Every Believer, by J. Oswald Sanders (Moody Publishers).
Detox Your Soul: Part 2 // Acts 2:38-41 // January 21, 2020
In this week’s message you’ll learn why the Christian life is one that embraces a life-long journey of regular, on-going ‘detoxification’ of the whole self — the soul. Through Jesus, we are integrated into a process that continuously renews and restores the heart, mind, body, and spiritual life for God and His Kingdom.
Questions for Discussion:
Will you prayerfully consider what is “unhealthy” in your life right now? What have you allowed in your life that is corrupting your soul and undermining your ability to live as a devoted follower of Jesus and experiencing the fullness of His salvation for you?
What are the implications of doing nothing about it?
How would you go about beginning to detox your life from that thing or things? Who would you need to talk with or ask to help you?
Detox Your Soul: Part 1 // James 1:21 // January 14, 2020
This week we look at the story of the “wise men” who traveled a great distance to visit a new born King in Bethlehem. This miraculous event in history demonstrates God’s power, but also His relentless mission to make Jesus Christ known as Savior King for everyone, everywhere!
Questions for Discussion:
What’s something new you learned about the story of the “wise men”?
What is the most challenging thing for you to believe?
What is the most challenging thing for you to do?
Additional Resources Mentioned in Today’s Podcast:
The message of Christmas is the story of God’s fulfilled promise to break into the spiritual darkness and depths of human despair to bring permanent light and eternal hope for all. Christmas is the greatest “good news” event in human history that restores hope for the hopeless.
Questions for Discussion:
In what way might you resonate with the story of Israel in the days of Isaiah?
Where can you see God’s glory — his light and hope — already being revealed to you?
How will you step into it that hope by faith?
God with the Hopeless // Isaiah 9:1-7 // December 10, 2019
